Max Rivlin-Nadler

Ross Douthat, the young conservative on the Times op-ed page, weighed in today on Susan Patton's totally fucked-up advice for Princeton women. His piece, which lays out that the Ivy league represents the kind of compromised meritocracy that caters to elites like Patton, especially because they give the elite a chance to preserve their wealth and status, is both nuanced and thoughtful. But it's coming from a person who tends towards the right. And attacks the type of meritocracy that has privileged most of the readership of the Times. In other words, commenters are having a really hard time trying to figure out what to make of the piece.